13 schools closed over standards

More than 1,000 students in Kaliro District are crying foul following a decision by the district authorities to close 13 private schools over alleged failure to comply with minimum standards prescribed by the Ministry of Education and Sports.

Both Students and parents have condemned the move saying authorities should not have waited for them to pay school fees before closing the schools.

However, the district education officer, Mr John Peterson Basalirwa, insisted the schools had been warned.

“We had no option, but to close these schools because we had been warning the managers long before the opening of the term and even the parents were told not to take their children to certain schools, but they did not heed our warnings,” Mr Basalirwa told this newspaper on Wednesday.

Mr Basalirwa said the affected institutions were found to be lacking licenses, structures, latrine facilities and qualified staff, adding that it was such institutions that were causing what they described as the district’s perpetual poor performance in national exams.